A senior Bahraini cleric strongly rejected any difference or dispute between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims in his country, and stressed that the oppressive and tyrannical behavior of the ruling Al-Khalifa regime is the only major problem in Bahrain today.

"There is no problem between the Shiite and Sunni brothers and we suffer the political and religious cruelties of the ruling system," Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassem said on Saturday, April 9.

He also reiterated that all the efforts and attempts made by the hirelings of the Bahraini government to sow discord between the Shiite and Sunni people in the country are doomed to failure.

Blasting the Bahraini government for cracking down on peaceful protestors, he reiterated that security measures would not solve the problems, "rather political reform is the solution to the problems in Bahrain.

Demonstrators in the Shiite-majority Bahrain have been demanding constitutional reforms as well as an end to the 230-year-old monarchy, with hundreds camping out peacefully in the capital's Pearl Square since February 14.

Bahraini security forces have been brutally suppressing anti-government protesters. So far, at least 24 people have been killed, almost 100 have gone missing and about 1,000 others have been injured.

The violence against protestors escalated when Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar dispatched their armed forces to the country to help Manama crack down on peaceful protesters.